Old Town Temecula's December Happens on Thursdays and Fridays

The 1914 bank building at the corner of Old Town Front Street lost its last restaurant tenant in 2023. This December it's Gaucho Grill, a wood-fired Argentine steakhouse. It opened in September on the same block as the workshop where Santa arrives on November 27.

That corner is the newest stop on Old Town's holiday route. The schedule built around it is the more useful thing to know. On the Old Town Temecula Association's 2026 calendar, almost every big December event falls on a Thursday or a Friday night. Twice, a Thursday event you walk through is followed the next night by a Friday event built around the street. Even New Year's Eve lands on a Thursday this year.

The Calendar, Laid Out by Weekday

Here is the full run from Thanksgiving weekend to New Year's Eve, with dates and times from the Old Town Temecula Association's 2026 listings and the City of Temecula's calendar.

Apart from Small Business Saturday on Nov. 28, only one event on that list falls on a Saturday. Weekends get something else. After Santa's Arrival, Pennypickle's Workshop holds visiting hours every weekend from Nov. 28 through Dec. 20, Saturdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 4 p.m. If you have small children, weekend mornings are for Santa. Weeknight evenings are for everything else.

Pair One: Taste on Thursday, Parade on Friday

December 3, the ticketed night

Holiday Taste of Old Town is the winter edition of the Association's self-guided tasting stroll. Tickets are $45 and are sold only through the Association's events page and Eventbrite. The event often sells out, and only a limited number of tickets may be available at the door. Most of the practical details live in the Association's FAQ.

• Check-in opens at 5 p.m. sharp, with no early check-ins. There are two booths: Citrus and Moss at 28459 Old Town Front Street on the north end, and Oak Grove Culinary Creations at 41923 Second Street on the south end.
• What you get at check-in is a wristband plus a map and menu. The menu isn't released before the event.
• How many stops: typically 26 to 30 restaurants, shops, breweries and tasting rooms take part, with one to two bites per stop.
• Refunds are available through the Eventbrite app up to one week before the event.
• Late arrivals: booths are staffed from 5 to 7 p.m. After that, the unmanned booth posts instructions for picking up your credentials.

You don't have to follow the map. Old Town also stays open for regular business that night, so the sidewalks are shared with everyone else having a normal Thursday dinner. Children are welcome but can't sample the adult offerings. Pets can walk the streets, but health code keeps them out of the restaurants where the samples are served.

December 4, the street night

The next evening the focus moves from storefronts to the street. The City of Temecula's event listing for Santa's Electric Light Parade says it starts at 7 p.m. sharp, Friday, Dec. 4. It begins at Jefferson Avenue and Del Rio Road and heads south into Old Town. The city lists the event as running until 9 p.m.

This year's entry guidelines cap the parade at 95 entries. Every entry has to be lit and family-friendly, and judges score partly on holiday theme and use of lights. So it's a parade of lit floats built to be judged, and the Association describes it as one that lights up Old Town Front Street.

Pairing the two nights is useful if you plan ahead. The Taste on Thursday is a slow walk through the same blocks the parade crowd fills on Friday, so Thursday is a good chance to scout a dinner spot or a place to stand.

Pair Two: Three Days, Thursday Through Saturday

The second pair stretches to three days under one name. The Visit Temecula Valley listing for A Very Temecula Christmas runs Thursday, Dec. 10 through Saturday, Dec. 12.

Thursday, Dec. 10: Boutique Crawl, Holiday Edition

The crawl runs 2 to 8 p.m. The Association's description is short: shop, sip and dine under Old Town's holiday lights. Because it runs into a weekday evening, you can get there after work.

Friday, Dec. 11: Cars, Cocoa & Carolers

From 4:30 to 8 p.m., Old Town brings out classic cars, warm cocoa and carolers. Classic cars on Front Street are already an Old Town habit. In May, the Temecula Rod Run's Friday Night Cruise sends hundreds of classic vehicles down the same street. The December evening adds cocoa and carolers.

Saturday, Dec. 12: Santa Under the Tree

The weekend finale moves to the Civic Center, 1 to 4 p.m., with Santa and carolers under the Christmas tree. The Association suggests strolling Old Town afterward.

The Thursday-then-Friday rhythm holds through all of December. The Window Walk, a self-guided tour of decorated storefront windows, runs every day from Dec. 1 to 26, so the windows are up for both pairs. The season closes on a Thursday too: the New Year's Eve Grape Drop at the Civic Center Quad runs 6 to 10 p.m. Dec. 31, with the countdown at 9 p.m. to match midnight on the East Coast. Families with kids who won't last until midnight can still see a countdown.

The Block Where Everything Meets

If one block sits at the center of all this, it's the one Gaucho Grill now anchors. According to the Press-Enterprise, the restaurant at 28645 Old Town Front St. sits on the corner of a block that also holds The Merc, an 1890 brick building that's part of the Old Town Community Theater, and Pennypickle's Workshop, the kids' museum where Santa arrives and keeps his weekend hours. Rodeo Cafe is across the street.

The building has a long local history. It was built as the First National Bank of Temecula, became the Bank of Mexican Food in 1978, and its last tenant, The Bank Plates & Pours, closed in 2023. Gaucho Grill, a Downey-based steakhouse, opened there on Monday, Sept. 21, after a long refurbishment. It has served lunch and dinner since Sept. 28.

The menu covers a wide range. Meat comes off open-flame, wood-fired parrilla grills, with prices from $22 for a breaded chicken breast up to $139 for a 45-ounce tomahawk ribeye. There are also burgers, sandwiches, pasta and seafood. The Press-Enterprise singled out Gaucho Bread, a sourdough baguette served with chimichurri. On a parade or carolers night, it's a sit-down dinner one door from the Santa workshop.

Two newer storefronts are also open for their first holiday season. Tecovas, the cowboy boot retailer, opened at 28601 Old Town Front St. with a soft opening on Oct. 29 and a three-day grand opening Nov. 6 through 8, Patch reported. The store offers free boot shines, leather personalization and hat shaping, which could help if you're buying a gift for the Boutique Crawl. Around the corner, Patch reported in September that The Brass Unicorn Vintage had opened at 42050 Main St., Suite A.

Parking on the Big Nights

The Old Town Parking Garage at 28690 Mercedes St. is free and open 24 hours a day, according to the Association's parking page. Public street spots and designated public lots are also free, but some private lots charge.

The same page warns that during large events, some lots may be reserved or closed and streets may be rerouted. That matters most on Dec. 4. The parade route comes south from Jefferson and Del Rio, so if you're coming from that side of town, check the city's event page for closures before you leave.

Family coming to stay for the parade or New Year's Eve is often when a guest room or a tired kitchen starts to bother you. If that's your situation, The Home Expert Group can walk through your home with a contractor's eye and give you a realistic scope and cost before the holidays or after them. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll help you sort out what's worth doing now and what can wait until January.